In the Life
by Calai'di
Summary: You think the Thief King is heartless, ruthless, and moral less with no friends or family. You think he cares for no one but himself and for nothing but the Items and Egypt's throne. You're dead wrong... Thief Bakura x Mahaado, rated for violence, cursi


Calaidi– -sigh- Right, I know you peoples are so going to hate me now, since I've started another multi-chapter that will probably never be finished. But hopefully, the odd pairing and storyline will get reviews from you, right? ;

Anyway, this is based off of (or really, copied from) and RP on my site between me and a friend of mine. If you want to read the actual RP, go click on my website on my profile and find it. However, this is going to be almost exactly the same, or at least everything between the point with Bakura sneaking into the palace and the end of the first lemon. Everything else is mine alone, unless I state otherwise.

Oh, and most of the inventions that are mentioned in this fic, like the alarm clock and elevator (you'll see), were not actual ancient inventions, but from what I've read, they could have been absolutely, utterly possible. And it's not like I've made them with our tech and knowledge of today or anything. No, they use fundamental forces and materials the ancient Egyptians had.

Disclaimer–I do not own Yugioh, or its character, but I do own Thief King's city, the basic storyline, and all the inventions that are in here except for a select few that I will mention.

Warning–this is rated R for a reason. The first couple of chapters are fairly clean, besides a couple kisses, but there is a part that has extreme yaoi. If you don't like it, then don't read it.

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**In the Life**

**Chapter I**

A large falcon circles high in the sky above the sands of Egypt, sands that are heated to near impossible temperatures by the hot sun above. This sun is carried across the sky, the body of Nut, aboard the Solar Ark each day and through the underworld each night, but at the moment it is at its apex. A few large thunderclouds can be seen forming over the Red Land in the west, but Seth has hardly ever graced the people of Egypt with rain and today would be no different. The falcon circles over the patch of sand again, seemingly waiting for something, or some_one_, to appear.

The Solar Boat gradually travels lower in the sky until it is very near the horizon, and the falcon soon knows that it is needed at a different place. It flies steadily north and over the glimmering Nile, the sand below it soon giving way to cubit-square glass windows in regular intervals, covering holes in the sand. To the unaided eye, these patches of darkness would be invisible, but this falcon has been given the ability to see them, though from whom no one knows. Soon, the glass holes stop and a larger opening appears in the sand with stone steps leading down into it–the falcon's destination. It dives and gracefully lands on the arm of the man standing beside the hollow who has been waiting for it.

The man's stark white hair drifts gently about his tanned face in the evening wind as he pets the falcon's head, looking west to the surprisingly colorful sunset. He murmurs a few words to the falcon and it flies off again toward the sunset; the man smiles at his falcon's obedience. He waits at the top of the staircase, watching the sunset, until all of the color has gone from the sky and the first stars begin to peak out of Nut's body. Then he slowly descends the steps into the opening in the sand, waving his hand behind him to cast the illusion of sand over the entrance once more.

The steps lead further and further down into the darkness until the ground levels out a few cubits away from a tall stone wall. It turns out that the wall is actually a cleverly concealed door, the only indication of its existence being the shallow, hand sized hole chiseled into the rock about chest height. The man places his hand in the hollow only long enough for the rock to mold around his hand and the door to open with a small click. He fiddles with a latch on the inside of the door for a few moments before walking in and closing it behind him with a soft _click_. The space around him is now pitch dark but for a few torches that line the stone walls; they are not necessary, however, since the corridor is perfectly straight and only 10 cubits long.(1) At the end of the hall, there stands a tall wooden door and beyond that is an entire city beneath the sands. The man gazes proudly at his city, his fingers subconsciously tracing the words engraved into the wooden door: WELCOME TO NEW KURU ERUNA.

And that's me. The man standing there, his white hair blowing in the non-existent wind, is me, and this city is mine, of my own design, not Pharaoh's. _Definitely_ not Pharaoh's.

I'm sure you're wondering who I am, besides being that man standing in the doorway to New Kuru Eruna. Well, I'm going to be evil and not tell you who I am; you'll just have to figure it out for yourself. But if you do, you can't tell Pharaoh. He can't know about this place; he would try to kill us all.

I slowly head down the steps that are carved into the stone that lead to the ground level–another precaution on my part. You see, if Pharaoh ever does find us, he will most likely run in blindly and then all his troops will fall to their doom. Which is good, considering this place took nearly ten years to build, and it's still being expanded; ten years of working in secret, mostly at night, hiding from Pharaoh. In fact, I think the main reason I started learning magic in the first place was to conceal this place from him while it was being built as well as now that it is finished. But this place is definitely worth the hardship.

"Lord Bakura!"

I turn my head toward the offending sound–damnit, fool, you just gave away my identity. But as annoyed as I am, I cannot help but smile as a mass of blonde and white comes hurtling into my arms. I smile down at the boy as I shift him to a more comfortable position in my arms, groaning dramatically as I start walking again.

"Malik, you're really getting to heavy for this," I grumble good-naturedly. He pouts and stares up at me with big, purple, eight-year-old eyes.

"But won't you always carry me around like this when I ask?" he asks, sounding almost pleading. "You won't just stop, will you?"

I sigh and shift him in my arms again so he is resting on my hip and I have one arm free. I can understand why he would think that way; I've known Malik since he was born. His parents were some of the first citizens of New Kuru Eruna, so Malik was actually born here. This is the only place he's every known, and for his whole life I've really been like a second father to him. Well, of course I am to every child here, but Malik has always enjoyed my company more than others.

Anyway, I smile and shake my head in response to his question. "No, I won't just stop; I'll warn you first. Like right now; you're really getting too big for this."

"But you'll carry me for a while yet, right Lord Bakura?"

I tweak his nose gently, grinning when his face scrunches up. "Only until you're ten, then you'll have to walk," I answer, smiling at the pout he gains. I reach up to tweak his nose again and laugh kindly as he bats my hand away. I sigh as I glance over at one of the large, glass water clocks(2) that are placed all over the city and gently set Malik down on his feet, waving him off. "It's time for you to go to bed."

"Aw, but Bakura!" he whines, making me smile. "Can't I stay up?"

"No, we have a big day tomorrow. You need to some sleep," I answer, pushing him lightly in the direction of his house. He pouts and sticks his tongue out at me before running off, though I know he'll have forgotten all about this in the morning. Smirking, I head down a different street, waving at various people as I go; another great thing I love about this city is that it's alive and bustling all the time, except for maybe in the dead of the night. This is because there is little difference in the amount of light between day and night, thanks to the mirrors placed strategically just beneath the openings in the ceiling. They're placed at exact angles so they catch the light from both eyes of Horus whatever time it is and reflect it back and forth endlessly.(3) The only time there isn't much light is when the moon is dark; then we use magical fire.

I buy a green apple from my favorite vendor, Latif, and eat it on my way home. I swear this is the best fruit I've ever tasted! It's sweet and sour and juicy and crunchy all at once, so different from the normal fruits we have here. I'm not sure where Latif buys these from, because I know they're not native to the Black Land, but I'm grateful he does. I love these!

I walk slowly towards my home, turning a couple times, listening intently to various conversations as I pass. I am very glad that no one knows what I have planned for a later tonight; I'd rather not have a party waiting for me when I get back. The number of people begins to taper off as I reach my house; no matter how inconspicuous it appears to be, everyone still knows to stay away after dark–I've been known to get violent.

Now, how does anyone know which house is mine when it looks the same as every other nearby? Well–and this is my favorite part of the city, for some odd reason–etched into my door and then filled with gold is a small drawing of the Millennium Items in the same arrangement as if they were placed in the Tablet of Power.(4) I've mark my home this way because the Items _are_ rightfully mine, and no one in this city is allowed to forget that. I did the carving myself, actually, about a year ago when the city was finally finished. I had to draw it on papyrus first, of course, but it came out rather beautiful.

I briefly trail my fingers over the miniature of the Millennium Ring before pushing open the door and walking inside, lighting a few candles as I walk through the rooms towards the main ladder. I climb up the ladder to the second floor and my room, which is where it pops out, and begin to gather my things for later, putting everything, unfortunately, in a woolen bag I'd stolen long ago. By the gods, do I hate wool! It's so itchy and scratchy and every good Egyptian knows it's unclean! I wouldn't touch the stuff if the prize was the throne if I had a choice, but I haven't managed to steal a leopard-skin robe to make a new one with yet, and I don't have another bag to use in the meantime.

Ah, but my knife...I smile as I pick up my favorite knife and stroke it lovingly, trying to ignore the blood stains all over the blade and the wisps of silver smoke surrounding it, trapped but trying to get out nonetheless. Hmmm, I might have to clean this soon, before those souls escape...

I strap the knife to my belt and set my stuff down by the front door, then go back up to my room to check the water clock for the time. Two and a quarter past nightfall.(5) Cool, I have plenty of time to sleep before my big mission. It's usually better for everyone if I sleep a bit before going out on a heist–otherwise, I can get cranky, especially since I'm compromising a night of sleep, which I probably need desperately.

I glance at the clock again, make a few quick calculations, and set my alarm-clock to wake me up at midnight. Yes, my alarm-clock. It's actually quite a simple invention. You see, the normal water clock I use is made of clear glass, like the others in the city, and the water is died red so I can see it from across the room. My alarm clock, however, is made of normal alabaster and uses normal water, since I don't actually use it to tell time. The difference is that there's a small buoy floating on the surface attached to a the end of a stick with a weight under it and one at the opposite end, that one being heavier of course. When the water reached a certain level, he weights force the stick down into the water, which pulls on a string, which rings a bell close to my pillows. It doesn't usually ring more than once, of course, but it's loud and annoying, so there's no way not to wake up to it.(6)

After setting my alarm, I lay down on my bed of ornate Eastern pillows and fine, cool linens and fall into a deep sleep...

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Notes: 

1) The cubit was the standard ancient Egyptian measurement. It wasn't a very good system of measurement, however, since it is the length between the tips of a person's middle finger and their elbow, and was therefore always different from person to person. For more important projects, the royal cubit was used, which was the Pharaoh's cubit and was always the same.

2) A water clock was a tool used to measure time during the night, when a sundial obviously wouldn't work. It was a large alabaster bowl with twelve columns of eleven fake holes down the inside, one column for each month and one fake hole for each hour of the night. The bowl would be filled with water up to the top hole for that month and would drain out at a steady rate through a real hole on the bottom edge into another bowl (to conserve water). The water clocks in Bakura's city are made of glass because a) he can totally afford it and b) so the time can be seen from the side instead of having to look down into the clock to see the water level.

3) The "eyes of Horus" are the sun and moon, although this is only one of a couple of the ways these celestial bodies were represented. As for the mirrors: this is like what happened in The Mummy when Evie adjusts the copper mirror in that underground chamber and it lights the whole place up with reflected sunlight. I don't see why this couldn't be an actually thing done to light up places at night, and it's pretty cool besides.

4) This is the same as the Tablet of Memories in the manga, but obviously it wouldn't have been called that by the AE charies.

5) This would be about the same time as eight forty-five, assuming sunset is about six-thirty. Sunrise will be twelve hours later.

6) Ah, this would be one of those inventions that I've made up, so you can't go to a museum and find an ancient alarm-clock. Also, Egyptians usually slept on headrests instead of pillows, which I've heard are actually quite comfortable and good for your back, but they _did_ have pillows as well. And I don't feel like explaining what a headrest is, so go look it up on Google Images if you don't know.


End file.
